Montage: Joe Biden’s history of tense exchanges with reporters
Joe Biden has frequently gotten frustrated and raised his voice at members of the press whose line of questioning he disagreed with.
President Biden continued his tradition of barking at reporters last week when he snapped at journalists who pressed him on a lack of campaign trail appearances ahead of the midterm elections and abortion restrictions.
Biden has been hostile with the press on multiple occasions throughout his presidency despite the mainstream media’s reliable liberal slant. He has called a reporter a "kid," often talks down to members of the press, called News' Kelly O'Donnell a "pain in the neck" in the Oval Office for a question about a vaccine mandate for Veterans Affairs and once called Fox News' Peter Doocy a "stupid son of a b----."
The White House faced questions last week regarding Biden’s slim calendar, with multiple reports saying Democrats in tight races view him as a liability. It appeared Biden didn’t appreciate it when reporter asked about his campaign plans as he was walking to Marine One on Thursday.
President Biden has regularly snapped at reporter who asked questions he doesn’t like. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"John Fetterman is going to appear with you today in Pennsylvania, but there haven't been that many candidates campaigning with you. Why?" a reporter asked.
"That's not true. There have been 15. Count, kid, count," Biden responded.
The reporter pressed, "Are there going to be even more?"
Biden quickly responded, "yeah," before moving on to another reporter who felt his wrath.
Biden stepped away from the female reporter he referred to as a "kid" when a different member of the press asked if there should be any restrictions on abortion. Biden said there should be restrictions, so the reporter followed up by asking what they should be.
"In Roe v. Wade! Read it, man, you’ll get educated," Biden said before ignoring follow-up questions and bolting to Marine One.
Biden, who is often asked softball questions from sympathetic members of the press, has a history of responding with anger or sarcasm when faced with tougher questions.
"Read the polls, Jack. You guys are all the same," Biden said earlier this year when asked by a reporter what he would say to Democrats who didn’t want him to run for a second term. According to Merriam-Webster, "The noun Jack has been used to refer generally to a man, and especially an ill-mannered or obnoxious fellow, since at least the 1600s."
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Biden snapped at a reporter in June when he was asked about the economist warning of a possible recession.
"Not the majority of them aren’t saying that. Come on, don’t make things up, OK? Now you sound like a Republican politician," Biden said. "I’m joking, that was a joke."
Last year, Biden scolded CNN's Kaitlan Collins when she suggested he was confident Russian President Vladimir Putin may change his malign behavior.
Biden, who was walking away from a press conference, whirled around at Collins and said, "I'm not confident he'll change his behavior. What in the hell, what do you do all the time?"
As Collins tried to speak, Biden stuck up a finger and continued, "When did I say I was confident? Let's get this straight. I said what will change their behavior is if the rest of the world reacts to them and diminishes their standing in the world. I'm not confident of anything. I'm just stating a fact."
He told her she was in the "wrong business" if she couldn't understand why their meeting was productive before walking away.
Biden apologized afterward for acting like a "wise guy," toward Collins.
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In 2020, Biden used the same "wise guy" apology when he snapped at radio host Charlamagne tha God and famously said, "You ain’t Black," if you vote for Trump.
Another topic known to sent Biden into a tizzy is his son, Hunter Biden, whose infamous, scandal-plagued laptop has long been a thorn in the side of his administration.
Days before the 2020 election a CBS reporter asked about the New York Post's report on the younger Biden's laptop and his emails about his work with a Ukrainian energy company.
"Mr. Biden, what is your response to the New York Post story about your son, sir?" Bo Erickson asked.
"I know you’d ask it," Biden shot back. "I have no response, it’s another smear campaign, right up your alley, those are the questions you always ask."
The laptop has since been verified as authentic by multiple news organizations.
Erickson ran afoul of Biden again the next month when he was president-elect, shouting out a question about whether he would encourage teachers' unions to help in the push to get students back in classrooms.
Biden snapped back, "Why are you the only guy that always shouts out questions?"
He also lashed out in 2019 after being asked whether his son's work in Ukraine, while the elder Biden was diplomatically involved with the country as vice president, represented a conflict of interest.
"It’s not a conflict of interest. There’s been no indication of any conflict of interest," Biden said while at a Service Employees International Union forum in Los Angeles.
The reporter then asked if Biden's son's work created the appearance of a conflict of interest, prompting Biden to shift the focus to then-President Donald Trump.
"I’m not going to respond to that," Biden said angrily. "Focus on this man. What he’s doing that no president has ever done."
While questions about Hunter Biden often result in apparent anger from the president, other times he simply appears annoyed with questions he doesn’t appreciate.
In 2021, Biden said, "gimme a break," to Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller for suggesting his coronavirus vaccine goal of one million per day was too low.
"When I announced it, you all said it was not possible," Biden told Miller. "C'mon, gimme a break, man."
Biden also has a history of appearing irritated at Doocy, who covered him on the campaign and is now a White House correspondent. Biden called him a "stupid son of a b----" on a hot mic in January after Doocy asked Biden if inflation was a political liability for him.
Doocy downplayed the comment, but it wasn't the first time Biden insulted the Fox News reporter.
When Doocy asked about a court filing in 2019 that showed Hunter Biden had fathered a child with an Arkansas woman, Biden replied, "No, that's a private matter. I have no comment. But only you would ask that. You're a good man. You're a good man. Classy."
Biden also grew defensive in August 2019 when Doocy pointed out his small crowd sizes in Iowa, where he would eventually finish fourth in the caucuses before later resurrecting his campaign in South Carolina.
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"I know you're going to go after me no matter what ... And it's OK, it’s good. I’m a big boy. I can handle it … I notice you didn’t ask me why I’m ahead in all the polls still. I notice you didn't ask me how I feel about the new CNN poll," Biden told Doocy.
Earlier this year, Biden said Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich asked a "stupid question" about responding to Russian aggression toward Ukraine.
In another infamous moment during his marathon news conference in January, Biden lambasted a reporter asking about his controversial remarks likening political opponents to segregationist figures like George Wallace and Bull Connor.
"No, I didn't say that," Biden snapped. "Look what I said. Go back and read what I said, and tell me if you think I called anyone who voted on the side of the position taken by Bull Connor that they were Bull Connor. That is an interesting reading of English. I assume you got it into journalism because you like to write."
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Biden also once joked about running over a reporter in a car after she asked a question he didn't feel like answering about Israel. Early in his administration, Biden warned his staff to treat members of the press with respect.
"I’m not joking when I say this: If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect or talk down to someone, I promise you, I will fire you on the spot — on the spot. No ifs ands or buts," Biden said. "Everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity."
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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